Tryst with Destiny: On this day, August 15 in 1947, India gained independence as a new nation. The midnight speech of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India (pictured on left, with Mahatma Gandhi) to the Indian Constitutent Assembly began, “Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.” The speech is considered a masterpiece of oration and marked the triumph of the nation’s 100-year largely non-violent struggle for independence.
Happy Birthday, India!
Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was a noted pacifist, poet and prolific author. A lawyer by profession, he was inspired to join the freedom fighters by Gandhi. It was Nehru who ensured secularism by focusing on the plurality of the Indian people. His daughter, Indira Gandhi, also became Prime Minister.
Tryst with Destiny Speech: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tryst_with_destiny
Independence History: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India%27s_independence_movement
Nehru Quotes: http://www.spiritquotes.com/quotes/jawaharlal-nehru-quotes-jawaharlal-nehru-sayings.htm
madame scientist's not-so-mad musings 
Happy Independence day Rajini Rao !
Thanks, and same to you Suhail Manzoor !
Happy Independence Day Rajini Rao ! Lankans were only a year behind you guys gaining independence from the Brits! Are you back?
I should read up on Sri Lanka’s independence, Buddhini Samarasinghe ! My MIL just returned from a trip to Sri Lanka and was singing high praises 🙂
Not back yet..leaving in a couple of hours to go on a 2 day trip to the mountains. Will be checking out temple ruins from the 11th century Hoysala empire, among other things. Thanks for holding fort on SciSun!
Rajini Rao No probs, I enjoyed it! Enjoy your mountain excursions, looking forward to seeing all your photos 🙂
Civil disobedience FTW 🙂
According to a poll by CNN-IBN and History tv Nehru may be declared as the greatest Indian after Gandhi…he is in final top 2 n I guess the results are to be declared today……Happy Independence Day 🙂
Sudhanshu Pathania , I agree. Nehru’s main flaw was his pacifist approach towards China. He suffered a great shock and betrayal of trust from their surprise aggression in 1962 and apparently never recovered. He is also faulted with being too ready to agree to partition with Pakistan..there is a school of thought that a united nation may have been the way to go.
A lot of damage to his image is also done by his successors Indra due to 1975 emergency and and Rajeev for Buffors scam…..people forget the past good done by him when they see the present scenario due to his family….
Happy Independence day Rajini Rao i shall try to celebrate it over here in the UK.
Happy Independence Day, Rajini Rao!
Coincidentally, I just finished Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children. Found many free history lessons for myself in there (as in forcing me to look up stuff in non-fiction sources).
Happy Independence day for the Largest Democracy on the planet.
Happy Independence Day Everyone!! 🙂
I’m glad that you’re here on this auspicious day Rajini Rao 🙂
Happy Independence Day 🙂
Oh Rama, Gandhi is a role model. He accompanied me for a long time. Beautiful picture, thank you.
nice
Happy 65 in democracy in addition to thousands of years of history!
Thanks Norman Ma so rightly put! 🙂
this is our pride
H.I.D ❤
The world is sadly in need of good people such as these two ethical giants.
I agree, Terry Hallett . It is nearly impossible to find a politician who is not corrupt or self serving these days.
Yes indeed Rajini Rao
sigh
Once upon time in “INDIA”
Discussing the strategy of running the FREE INDIA due to lack of intelligent people in INDIA.
The man behind the prolong sufferings of Kashmiri people.
Nehru’s socialist policies are equally responsible for the suffering of the Indian people as a whole and not just Kashmiri.
Who said he was a real thinker?
Anil Sood , who said he was not?
Abhinandan Patil I don’t follow the logic. If politicians are corrupt now, then Nehru is no longer to be admired? The topic of this post is Independence and Nehru’s speech.
Rajini Rao I don’t think Nehru was a great thinker or a leader, India is still paying the price of lots of things that he did:
1) First thing he gave a constitution which was more a copy of other constitutions and had no novelty to it.
2) He gave Socialism, which didn’t let India develop for almost 5 decades.
3) In spite of being in power for almost 2 decades he didn’t strengthen the democratic institutions, the electoral system that he chose (First past the post system) was a ridiculous then and is still practiced in India only and as a result even today people can win elections in spite of majority vote being against them.
4) He gave Non-Align Movement (a group of losers) which made India a fence sitter in most International issues and as a result even today India is among the few countries which has any friends.
5) He gave us the Kashmir problem.
6) Due to his bad foreign and internal policy we lost the war to China.
Finally he forced Gandhi to declare him the leader instead of Sardar Patel who was far far better leader.
gando
if Congress government will continue for 10 years more. the day is not far when ( Rs 1 = 55 $ ). it is bright future of india.
So ” Vote For Congress & Note for Congress ” .
inhi ke waj aj hum barabad hai
nice pic
leeders
Very nice pic
Chosen one, among his people. Messenger to the world.
Unfortunately the information he tried to convey has been twisted beyond recognition…
great
Gv
Greatest fault was not delaying Independence. Had he delayed the bloodshed that followed after 15 August 1947 may have been averted because Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who became Pakistan’s first head of state, died shortly thereafter apparently on 11th September, 1948. Judging by current events in the Middle East today, the British probably should have carved out a state for Palestinians and a state for the Jews and the bloodshed seen today may have been a one-time occurrence.
Thanks for this photo of these two great men. Mahatma Gandhi, superlative example of a humble human being. I was impressed by the advantages of internet becoming an everyday commodity because his autobiography was available free online and it still is. Gandhi had no hesitation in saying God directed his life. He spoke of God personally and called Him The Truth. “I can easily put up with the denial of the world, but any denial by me of my God is unthinkable,” said Gandhi.
Notably, this week Professor Richard Dawkins, oft-referred to as “the world’s greatest atheist” admitted during debate at Oxford University that he can no longer entirely say there is no God. Evidently he did not read Gandhi’s autobiography earlier?